The best thing about this site is that it lets you take control. I came here at age 49, after quitting smoking and putting on 11 pounds on top of the 12 I'd gained over the most recent years on top of the 8 that had been edging up on me. But what they heck? In your late 40's some weight gain is inevitable, right? And 10 pounds or so is average to gain when you quit smoking! And, when you get older the weight just doesn't come back off again. These are all the things I heard, and believed. ...

The best thing about this site is that it lets you take control. I came here at age 49, after quitting smoking and putting on 11 pounds on top of the 12 I'd gained over the most recent years on top of the 8 that had been edging up on me. But what they heck? In your late 40's some weight gain is inevitable, right? And 10 pounds or so is average to gain when you quit smoking! And, when you get older the weight just doesn't come back off again. These are all the things I heard, and believed.

Just goes to show how wrong you can be. Having been naturally thin without really trying for most of my life left me with no real understanding of how to correctly eat. I didn't even know what a correct daily calorie intake was, let alone how many were in various kinds of food. And being a smoker for 33 years (yikes!) left me without the ability (or desire) to work out. Spark People helped change both of those things.

With the help of this site, I learned how much I should be eating and the best foods to get it. I learned how much I should be exercising, and was motivated to join a gym and stick with it. And the pounds started to melt off.

I'd set an initial goal of 125, not really expecting to get there. Hey, I'm old! Old people can't lose weight. Well, I met that goal after 3 months in the program, less than a week after my 50th birthday. Now, 2 months after that, I've met (and surpassed) my secondary goal of 118. It's only 5 pounds more than my all time low, but I think that may be 5 pounds of muscle, because my "thin clothes," that I hadn't had on in 4 years, now fit again. And as a bonus, my cholesterol, which had been about 3 times as high as it should be, is now back to normal.